Smartwatches Can Secretly Receive Data From Air-Gapped Computers

Researchers from an Israeli university have shown a new way for hackers to steal information from PCs that are not connected to the internet, known as air-gapped systems. These computers are often used in places like government offices, military bases, and nuclear plants to keep important information safe by keeping them away from any network.

The attack, called SmartAttack, needs a computer to be infected with the virus first. This can happen if someone inside the organization helps or if a device like a USB drive is used on the device. Once the computer is infected, the software collects information like passwords and other confidential messages.

To send this information out, the malware uses the computer’s speaker to make very high-pitched sounds that people cannot hear, according to the study posted to arXiv. These sounds are at frequencies above what humans can detect. But smartwatches, which are everywhere nowadays ...